16 Oct 2009

Don Lemon of CNN talked about how CNN uses Twitter and how he liked that it provides immediate feedback when they run a story. In the past, you would send in a letter or even wait to call in a radio show, but now, within seconds, he reads tweets that provide feedback to stories.

Hugh Hewitt said that when you are pushing out a message, you can test it within one or two news cycles and you will have instantaneous feedback. He also said that journalism school are now turning out students with “completely irrelevant skill sets.”

Jay Rosen talked how social media has made patients learners, partners, and an educated audience. When you think you have a medical condition, the first thing you will do is to look it up on the Web. This has forced doctors to be more responsive, nimble, and expect more informed questions of their patients. This is the equivalent of thousands of fact-checkers for a news organization.